


Whiplash

by DawnWave



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Gen, Salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:53:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22385182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnWave/pseuds/DawnWave
Summary: Marinette goes to Singapore for a cousins wedding. Adrien is there for a fashion show.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 11
Kudos: 334





	Whiplash

**Author's Note:**

> Ok first a little note here: 1) I know next to nothing about Asian culture so I have tried to be as respectful as possible while writing this, however, I probably got things wrong so please forgive me. 2) I have not been feeling well so everything feels a bit scattered in this story but I felt I should post it rather than delete the whole thing like I was planning on doing. 3) This is a messy one-shot and unlike my other stories, I don't have any follow up head cannons for this so no amount of begging will get a sequel!
> 
> Edited: 28 May 2020 to include some missing details.

Marinette was excited, in less than 14 hours she would be landing in Singapore for her first visit since she was a little girl. Currently, she was sitting in the first-class lounge having completed all the required preflight check-ins. Her sketchbook was on her lap and her phone was next to her as she was chatting to her cousin online about the plans for while she was there. She was so busying with what she was doing that she failed to notice when three other people walked into the flight lounge and one sat down next to her.

“Hey Mari, what are you doing here?” 

Marinette jumped and her sketchbook fell to the floor, reaching to reclaim it she glanced to where the voice had come from. Adrien, of course, it was Adrien. She hadn't spoken to him much since Lila had joined her class but she still had her massive crush on him. How could she not? Sure he hadn't stood by her side as he promised he would but with his father controlling almost everything in Adrien's life, it would have taken a miracle for him to be able to back her up publically. She did think that he was a little too much of a pacifist but nobody was perfect.

“Hi Adrien, I’m just waiting for my flight to Singapore to be announced. I'm visiting for one of my cousin's weddings. It's going to be absolutely amazing, provided the fights stay at a minimum.” Marinette said calmly trying to hide the dread she felt regarding the latter part of her statement.

“Whose wedding, Mlle Dupain-Cheng?” Nathalie inquired. As her tablet was already in her hands Marinette guessed that Nathalie would be doing a google search of whichever name Marinette gave her. 

“Nobody you would know,” Marinette replied calmly. 

“Are your parents not attending the wedding?” Mr Agreste asked.  _ Probably trying to get dirt to show Adrien how unsuited I am to even be his friend.  _ Marinette thought sardonically.

“The current plan is they will attend the wedding and stay for a week after it. However, the wedding is in over a month's time and my cousin has asked for my assistance with final fittings and details that she might have missed. It helps that I'm one of her bridesmaids so I would have been heading over soon anyway.” Marinette replied, downplaying her role in the wedding as well as what she was really going to be doing. After all, she was the one who had designed all the dresses and suits for the wedding and she was the maid of honour. She had to make sure the bachelorette party ran smoothly on top of everything else too.

Suddenly[ Within Temptations ‘Shot in the Dark’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLz61g0JLxQ) blared from her phone. Marinette grabbed it and looked at who was trying to get hold of her then answered and spoke in rapid-fire Chinese to the person on the other end. While all three people with her were capable of speaking Chinese, they were soon lost. She was speaking way too fast and in a dialect that they were not familiar with. The call didn't last long but it was clear to Adrien and his father that Marinette wasn't happy about something.

“What's wrong?” Adrien asked genuine curiosity shining in his eyes.

“Oh, just one of the aunts demanding that my cousin include their child in the wedding party. It's not my decision and as my cousin has already said no there is not much I can do about it.” Marinette closed her eyes and groaned as she flopped back into her seat, “This is going to get worse as the day draws closer, I just know it!”

Mr Agreste exchanged a glance with Nathalie and was about to say something more, probably to ask about how Marinette could afford first-class tickets when an air stewardess walked over to her.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng? It's time for you to board.”

Marinette gathered her things and stood up to follow her. For the first time, the three that had joined her in the flight lounge took a look at what she was wearing. For anyone who didn't know fashion, Marinette's outfit would look just like any other 18-year-olds. To those who were in the fashion industry, however, they could see that her stressed jeans were designer and not worn from age. Her blouse was tailored to her perfectly and her shoes, while slightly worn, were expensive. This led to three very confused people. How could Marinette afford all of the designer clothes? How was she in first-class to begin with? Weren't her parents bakers? It made no sense to them at all.

Marinette was well aware of the turmoil that she had left her former classmate and his designer of a father in. She also knew that Nathalie was in no better state than the two men as she would be the one that had to look up all the answers to their questions. The truth was simple though well hidden and no matter how hard Nathalie searched she wouldn't be able to find it. After all, who would suspect Sabine Cheng came from a family that owned Billions? Or that Sabine had left for Paris after she and Tom had married so that Marinette would have a more normal childhood? They lived on way less money then what they had but invested wisely anyway, to the point that Marinette owned her own fashion empire, under her real name, and she was the lead designer for it. 

Marinette was safely in her seat with a glass of champagne when the Agreste's boarded. Her nose was buried in her sketchbook again and her phone was connected to the sound system that was playing her music while she designed. At that moment she had [Machine Heart by Miracle of Sound feat Sharm](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYzXKZn_Z3w) playing and her pencil was flying across her page. As they watched the song changed and Marinette gave a small smile before carrying on with her designing. Mr Agreste decided to be nosey about what she was designing and realised that it out-did even his latest line in terms of style despite being a rough draft. He couldn't help but think that she would be better then him someday and wondered if he should try and offer her an internship before one of his competitors snatched her up. 

Adrien, on the other hand, couldn't help but smile as he watched her. She was so lost in her own world, even as she took a sip of her drink her eyes didn't leave the page. The cute frown she almost always wore when thinking was there and he felt a pang of longing flash through him. He'd always had a crush on her even though he had masked it by pretending to be hung up on Ladybug. In the countless interviews he'd had to endure, he had put up a facade of indifference whenever his love life had come under the microscope. It was something his father had approved of but something he had hated. His classmate was perfect as far as he was concerned, especially after she had stopped stuttering and getting muddled up in his presence. He found her intelligent and witty to go along with how kind she was. Sure she was quick to jump to conclusions but she was equally quick to forgive and try to move past what had been done wrong. She had even understood why he could never stand up to Chloe and to Lila despite how uncomfortable they made him. 

His smile grew as Marinette started to sing along to the current song, Broken Arrows by Avicii if he guessed correctly. Her voice was soft yet so full of joy and hope. There was a touch of pain every now and then as well but as far as Adrien could hear, the overtone in her voice was hope. He had always liked the song so he took the time to enjoy her singing. Or he tried to anyway. His father called for him to catch up when he had decided Adrien had lagged behind long enough.  _ Almost like he thinks I'm an errant puppy  _ Adrien thought cynically.

Soon enough they were in the air and Adrien was bored. He looked at Nathalie and his father and saw they were occupied with something so he decided to check what games or apps were on the little in-flight entertainment system in front of him. He was exceptionally grateful to find a messaging app that allowed you to chat to your fellow passengers and immediately tracked down Marinette's seat number and sent her a message, hoping that she wasn't asleep. She wasn't if the slight jump he saw from her was any indication. They chatted for three hours before she dozed off and he did the same. After they were woken for food and they had eaten, they started talking again. Adrien never asked about how she could be in first class, nor about the preferential treatment she was receiving. Despite his father trying to get him to ask, Adrien refused if Marinette wanted to tell him she would.

It wasn't long after their flight landed that he lost sight of her but he knew Nathalie had both his father and himself on an extremely tight schedule for the first few days. After all, he was walking the catwalk for someone other than Gabriel for the first time ever and they wanted to make sure everything ran like clockwork. He was grateful to get the chance if he was honest. Growing up in Paris during Hawkmoth’s reign of terror had been stressful. Trying to balance all the activities his father demanded combined with his duties as Chat Noir had often left Adrien exhausted enough to be a prime target for Hawkmoth, yet he had somehow slipped under the radar. He had been relieved when they had defeated Hawkmoth and found that it was a man who had lost his family in an accident and was desperate for them back. It turned out Mayura was his sister and that her husband had been lost in that same accident. Both were in jail for their actions now.

Marinette, on the other hand, had disappeared to the butterfly house as she wanted to visit it before she dived headlong into the madness that was preparing for a massive fashion show on top of all the wedding preparations for her cousin. At least the bachelorette party was planned and ready, even if the final numbers were not confirmed yet. Hopefully, that would happen soon! After an hour of exploring the butterfly house and gaining countless ideas for designs, she headed down to where she had been told a car would be waiting for her. She headed straight to the family home, where she was greeted by her grandmother's overly enthusiastic caramel coloured and perfectly groomed Pekingese, Mǔdān (Peony), the youngest of the six that her grandmother owned. All six were kept in the perfect condition for showing and yet every single one of them was completely spoiled. They were all extremely friendly even if they were highly protective of the family. It seemed that despite not seeing Mǔdān since she was a puppy, she still remembered her and was all too eager for the cuddles that Marinette would willingly provide. After greeting her family and having a quick meal and shower, Marinette decided to have a proper sleep to get over her jet lag.

When Marinette woke up again it was early in the morning and she was trapped in her bed by all six of her grandmother's Pekingese who had apparently decided she hadn't given them enough attention the previous day. To her dismay she found that she needed to shower again as she was covered in dog fur and sweat due to the dogs, so she reluctantly shooed the dogs away from the bed and had another quick shower. She was glad she had let her hair grow out over the past few years but she knew she was going to be cursing her hair by the end of her trip. To save herself the hassle of properly drying it she made sure that she didn't get her hair wet and after her shower, she threw her hair into a messy bun while she got dressed. 

Once she was dressed she pulled it into a neat fishtail braid that would keep it out of her face, yet still looked smart enough for work. She knew she would have to head to the office today as she needed to go over all the preparations for the show so she headed down to the dining room to ask if she could borrow one of the cars or if a driver had been assigned to her for during her stay. As she spoke to her aunt about that she managed to remember to eat a light breakfast and have lunch packed for her so that she didn't have to worry about that later. 

Once Marinette got to the office, having followed the GPS as a precaution, she quickly made her way to the main design floor. She received multiple greetings along the way and she cheerfully waved back, making sure to greet all those she knew by name and learning the names of anyone new. Her first order of business once she reached her studio office was going over the music selection for the runway show. She decided to make a statement to the fashion world with the first song and made it [“Rock what you got” by Superchick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb51mH3DApw) and work her way from there. Some of what she chose was a little on the heavy side but she was making a statement with every song she chose. This show was the one where she would finally be throwing away the fake name of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and revealing herself to be Nettie Chang. As she was working she heard a knock on her door and thinking it was one of the assistants called an absent-minded “Come in” without looking up at all.

“Marinette!” 

A shocked voice saying her name made her look up sharply.

“Mr Agreste, Nathalie, Adrien to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you all today?” Marinette asked calmly, masking her surprise with practised ease that would shock her classmates if they knew. Years of being Ladybug and training for her identity reveal with her family helping her at that moment.

“Adrien is meant to be making his international catwalk debut with the show that Píngguǒ huā Designs (Apple Blossom Designs) is hosting in a week. We were directed here to meet with the lead designer to make sure that everything was properly fitted. May I ask why you are in here? Are you interning with them?” Mr Agreste was hoping that her answer to his final question was no as he didn't want to compete against her in the fashion arena. 

Marinette smiled as she saw that all three of her guests were waiting with bated breath for her answer and was about to do so when one of the younger seamstresses came running into the room. Barely taking the time to catch her breath, the young woman rattled off the problem that had been discovered. Marinette calmed her down then told her to lead the way.

“I hope you don't mind if I deal with this before answering your questions? You are most welcome to follow me if you want to.” She said casually to them but they all picked up on the cue that she had handed them and followed the two ladies to what could only be the main floor. Marinette quickly saw what the problem was and saw a very easy solution. 

“Rather than resew everything from scratch, I want you two to swap models and see if everything fits better. If there is no change then we'll have new ones made but I'd rather not have to do that so close to the show.” The two women looked at each other and nodded, hastily sending the two models to change into the swapped outfits which they saw fit very well to their delight. Marinette quickly led her three guests back to her office and looked at Mr Agreste.

“Does that answer your questions?” She enquired in an amused tone, loving the poleaxed look on Mr Agreste's face along with the fact that Nathalie looked like she had just swallowed a lemon. Adrien was laughing softly from his spot behind his father. She glanced at him, it seemed like as soon as the shock of seeing her had worn off Adrien had guessed that she was at the very least the lead designer and had been waiting to see when the other two would catch up. As she waited for their response she poked her head out the door and asked for refreshments to be brought up, then retreated back into her office. After five minutes, Mr Agreste finally spoke.

“Well, it looks like my plan of offering you an apprenticeship won't be needed.” His voice had a slightly bitter tone to it. “So are you the lead designer or owner?”

Marinette didn't answer for a minute as she was finally going over the list of models for her show and had found Adrien's name on the list. She sent off a quick email asking for the appropriate items that he would be modelling to be sent to her office STAT so that she could do the final fittings and only then did she lean back to answer.

“Both. I started this company in my real name three years ago when it became clear to me that ninety per cent of my class were idiots who would rather believe a liar and removed me from the position of being class president. I joined the main student council instead and was soon it's vice-president but I was still bored. When the class was friendly with me, my days were occupied with doing designs for gifts, school dance dresses, team uniforms and planning fundraisers etc. As a result, I had very little time for myself and to be honest I was grateful when they turned on me as they were no longer coming to me at the last moment and just expecting me to be happy to do whatever they wanted. You should have seen the temper tantrums I put up with when I had the nerve to say 'I'm busy!’”

Marinette stopped when there was a knock at her door and she waved a hand to allow them to enter. Four people walked in, the first had a tray of drinks and eats, the second had a folding privacy screen that had ornate phoenixes and apple blossoms on it and the last two were pushing a rack that had several outfits on it. Marinette thanked them as they quickly set up the screen and after making sure there was nothing else they left just as quietly as they had arrived. 

Seeing that Adrien was about to speak Marinette held up a hand. “Drink something first. It's lunchtime and nothing here will cause bloating so you are welcome to eat as well. We can do your fittings after that, provided Nathalie has nothing else scheduled for today,” she said with a smile. Mr Agreste was watching her as though trying to figure something out.

“What's wrong Mr Agreste?” She asked with a slight tilt to her head.

“I'm just surprised that you will be doing Adrien's things yourself. I'm also trying to figure out why there is a screen for him to change behind.” He answered calmly.

“Simple. Yes, he is used to having people see him change and yes I own this company and could assign someone else to do this, but I decided to spare him that this time. Adrien is blond and a natural one at that which is rare here in Singapore thus he will be much sought after and I decided to avoid having my junior designers and interns fighting over the honour of who will do his fittings. I don't know who his dresser will be during the show yet but we'll get there. As for the screen, I am female and while I have grown up in France and as such, I am more liberal than most, this is Singapore and propriety must be observed. I am an unattached female as is Nathalie and Adrien is not related to either of us, so polite society dictates that we not be exposed to his unclothed form.” Marinette was speaking casually yet they could tell that she meant what she was saying. Either way, Adrien was grateful to Marinette for her thoughtfulness.

Adrien frowned then spoke up for the first time in a while, “What do you mean your 'real name' Mari? I noticed you said that you opened this fashion house under your 'Real Name' but for as long as I've known you your name has always been Marinette Dupain-Cheng on any of your documents.” Marinette smiled.

“Caught that did you? When mom found out she was pregnant with me, she convinced the family to let her move to France. I was raised there under a fake name so as to keep me out of the news here in Singapore. When I was old enough to start using contact lenses mom ordered coloured ones for me and I've been using them ever since.” She paused to take a breath but before she could continue Adrien popped out yet another question.

“So what's your real name and eye colour? I mean I've never seen you with any eye colour other than blue, even now! Don't they get uncomfortable? I know mine do after a little while!” Marinette smiled at her long-time crush.

“My real name is Nettie Chang and as for my real eye colour, it's grey.” She paused and glanced in a mirror. “Huh, no wonder you look confused, I forgot that I didn't need to put in my contacts in this morning. Oops!” She giggled slightly and walked over to her desk and opened a drawer to get out an empty case to hold her contacts and quickly removed them, revealing her stormcloud grey eyes. 

Adrien had to stop himself reacting when he saw them. It seemed just when he thought she couldn't get any prettier, she went and did so. It was unfair as far as he was concerned. Throughout high school, he'd watched her turn down guy after guy always saying that she couldn't return their feelings as she already liked someone. It didn't help that Lila had tried to turn that into Marinette, no Nettie, supposedly thinking that she was better than anyone in the school. Adrien had to wonder if she had ever told the oblivious idiot in question that she had a crush on him. 

Mr Agreste and Nathalie looked visibly shaken when they heard her name. Both of them were panicking as they had helped Lila Rossi on a number of occasions and it looked like Nettie knew about those deals. While her three guests were quiet, Nettie had continued working on the playlist for the show and had decided that she was going to stay with her theme of harder rock music as most of the clothes that had been made in darker tones that were designed to show off the wearers pale skin tones. She noticed that there were no sounds of eating and looked up.

“Was everything to your liking?” She asked innocently and received polite thank you's from Nathalie and Mr Agreste and an enthusiastic one from Adrien. She giggled slightly at the fact that he hadn't changed much then stood and beckoned for him to follow her. “This is the first outfit if you don't mind changing so that I can check the fit.” She said softly, handing him the first set for him to try on. The shoes will remain the same for each set so we only need to check those once.”

Adrien nodded and slipped behind the screen to change, all the while Nathalie and Mr Agreste tried to make sense of what was happening. Mr Agreste had expected to be able to walk in and take over but Nettie had blocked him so effortlessly that she made it look like she wasn't trying to block him at all. Thankfully none of the items of clothing needed any major alterations, though Adrien had needed to keep his mind firmly blank when Nettie had run her hands over the clothes to double-check everything. He had practically been able to hear Plagg laughing at him and had been grateful that his kwami had chosen to stay with his street clothes while he changed. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

As far as Alya was concerned, Marinette getting permission to go on holiday a week before the rest of the class was a good thing. She only knew about the extra week off because Max had hacked the school system and placed a tag on Marinette's file so that they knew when she was not going to be at school. The fact that Adrien had also been pulled from school for that week was a minor upset to Alya's plans to her Liladrien plan but one she could handle. Lila had been upset but who wouldn't be when they knew they wouldn't be able to see their crush everyday?

The class had managed to do enough fundraising to afford a trip to Singapore as their final school trip together and everyone was looking forward to it. Mlle Bustier had been persuaded to leave Marinette's name off of the list when it came time to booking anything, so Alya was happy they wouldn't have to deal with her. Mr Agreste hadn't replied to the classes emails about the trip so no-one was sure if Adrien would be able to come and with him not being at school for the week before they left it made things a little harder to plan but Alya was sure they had managed to do so just fine.

The school week passed with very little difficulty and they were all looking forward to their trip. Apparently, Lila had managed to book them an exclusive tour of the Píngguǒ huā Designs studios as well as backstage passes to their fashion show! Lila knew the lead designer for the studio which is how she had managed to organise it all and Alya was looking forward to rubbing the fact that they got to meet him in Marinette's face when they got back. 

The only downside of that week was seeing that Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie had gone up for sale and had closed its doors for the last time on Wednesday at the end of the business day. Nadja Chamack had done a special story on it for the evening news that night and apparently, they were moving to be closer to Sabine's family as her mother was getting on in age. That was the official story anyway, as far as the class was concerned that story was a coverup and they were simply moving away due to being ashamed of Marinette's behaviour. 

Alya didn't know why Marinette hadn't just gotten over herself and apologised to Lila for everything and then they wouldn't have excluded her the way they had. Even Chloe had made a deal with Lila to just pretend the other didn't exist and that had been the last of their arguing. 

Sure there had been several disadvantages to pushing Marinette away like no new outfits whenever they wanted them, no fresh pastries on test days and no friends and family discount at the bakery but they had made do. It meant a little pre-preparation for some things but it was worth it in the end as far as they were concerned. 

The trip to Singapore had been uneventful, though none of them could get comfortable in their economy class seats. They had then all piled into the bus that had been organised for them and when they had arrived at their hotel they had all been too tired to do much so they had checked in, received their keys, dropped their bags off and gone out for a meal. None of them had wanted to try anything from the street vendors, except Kim, but they had eventually found something they could all agree on and had that for their evening meal.

For four days the class had done the tourist thing, visiting the museums and a couple of local site's like the Bay East Garden, Merlion Park, Clarke Quay and even shopped on Orchard Road but that night the class had a rather unexpected surprise. They had all gone back to where they had seen the huge collection of street vendors as Kim had convinced them that it would be a shame to not at least try anything when they saw Adrien. What made it completely unexpected was that Mr Agreste and his assistant, Nathalie, were there too. They also had the last person any of the class wanted to see with them, Marinette. Or at least they thought it was Marinette. The girl had grey eyes and not blue so there was a possibility that it wasn't her 

“Mr Agreste, I didn't know you and Adrien would be here!” Lila greeted as she confidently strode over to Mr Agreste's table, Adrien and their guest had wandered off to somewhere as Lila headed their way. Ever the good friend, Alya had her phone trained on the scene in front of her, hoping that it would turn out to be the romantic moment the Lila hoped for when Adrien returned.

“Yes, Adrien is scheduled to walk in the Píngguǒ huā Designs fashion show in two days so we had to come here early so that all the final fittings could be done without needing to be rushed.” Although Mr Agreste had replied politely his tone was so cold it was palpable. At that moment, Adrien returned and placed what he was holding on the table, which smelled delicious. “Adrien, where is Nettie?” Mr Agreste asked seeing she hadn't followed Adrien back to the table. 

Adrien laughed, then answered happily, “She's getting a different dish. She is insistent that we try multiple different dishes and firmly believes that it would be a shame to eat here without trying a full range. My job is to track her as she darts from stand to stand and carry the meals back here. I hope you are hungry though as she didn't say how many stalls she would be visiting. Anyway, I've got to run or I'll lose her!”

With that Adrien vanished back into the crowd while Mr Agreste and Nathalie looked at each other and shook their heads with a smile. Lila fumed for a moment and was about to ask if she could join them when it seemed Mr Agreste remembered that she was there.

“Oh, by the way, Mlle Rossi, since you are already here I may as well tell you now instead of when I get back to France. Gabriel designs will no longer require your modelling services. A recent market survey that shows that rather than attracting customers with your modelling skills, you are deterring them. You are not on a fixed contract and since you were already paid for the last shoot you did for us, consider it your last one.”

Alya stared at Mr Agreste and Nathalie, who had nodded along with her boss. Lila looked like she didn't know if she wanted to scream or cry. Adrien had made two more trips while they spoke and it looked like he was back from his final trip as he had the grey-eyed girl from earlier with him. 

“This all smells amazing Nettie! Thank you for bringing us here.” Mr Agreste said with a soft smile as he looked at the girl who was with them. Adrien saw Lila was about to say something and decided to talk to Nette in Chinese until their class was no longer within earshot. Mr Agreste saw what his son was doing and laughed softly as he switched languages too, pretending to have forgotten that she 'didn't speak French.'

Alya walked over and took Lila's arm, “Come on Gurl, we need to find food as well. I don't know about you but I don't want to get in trouble with Mlle Bustier.” Lila nodded numbly,  _ Had she really just been fired  _ she thought before risking a glance over her shoulder and seeing Adrien feeding the other girl something then her returning the favour. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Adrien was having fun, something he hadn't expected to be possible when his father had agreed to have him model in the Píngguǒ huā Designs fashion show. He had been absolutely thrilled to find out he was modelling for his crush and had had to fight to maintain his control during the fittings but as far as he was concerned it was well worth it. He knew that Nathalie and his father had eased up on the schedule due to finding out that the girl his father had wanted to offer an internship to had bought her own fashion company. What a shock that had been to find out she owned Píngguǒ huā Designs but when the four of them had spoken after his fittings were done, everything had started to make sense.

It turned out that Lila had been lying to Marinette, saying that Mr Agreste had wanted nothing to do with her designs and that she was nothing but a social climber so Marinette had decided that she would start her own business instead. She had started by borrowing the original Capital from her parents and by using the money she had earned from her commissions and had already paid everything off. She still did those commissions but she had long since told those that she did the commissions for the truth and they were the ones who had spread the company's name around and had made it as popular as it now was. Nettie had focused primarily on ready to wear streetwear and practical clothing but she did have her more formal lines and he would be modelling a mix from both during the show. 

On top of lying about what his father was saying about her designs, Lila had also told Nettie that Adrien didn't want to be her friend among other things which Adrien had not been happy about. The talk had revealed a lot more than that but Adrien and his father had been most caught off guard by the fact that once the misunderstandings had been cleared up, Nettie had forgiven them. A quick call and they had been invited to her family home for supper, which they had gratefully accepted. They were about to hire a taxi when Marinette said she could drive them if they wanted, something they hadn't expected. 

Upon their arrival at the Cheng house, she had warned them to watch where they put their feet, only to almost trip over Mǔdān herself making her blush even as she laughed. She quickly scooped the dog up in her arms and turned to face them.

“Now you see why I told you to watch where you put your feet. This is Mǔdān and she is the youngest of the six Pekingese that my grandmother owns and she is definitely the friendliest of them. The others are Ming, Tuptim, Yari, Suki and Shari. They are all totally spoiled so don't let their cute faces fool you into thinking they aren't fed or anything like that!” Adrien had watched as she fussed over the dog in her arms and followed as she led them into the house, toeing off their shoes at the door, just like she had. There are indoor slippers if you would prefer to not walk barefoot but none of them worried as she hadn't bothered to put any on either. Soon they were greeted by the family and led into the lounge where they had had a very enjoyable evening, with Nettie and Adrien reconnecting their friendship properly.

They had had a fun evening after dinner watching a recording of SIX and while they had loved the musical, they couldn't help but point out the historical inaccuracies. Just before they had thought to head back to their hotel, the Chang family had offered to host them instead as a sign of goodwill. Adrien had been beyond thrilled when his father had readily agreed and had fallen into bed that night with a huge smile on his face, something that Plagg had teased him mercilessly for! By the time the end of the week arrived, he and Nettie were dating and despite her family's super strict rules for them, they were absolutely thrilled about finally being able to show what they were feeling. 

By the time they had gone to dinner at the open food market, they had agreed that she wouldn't need to bother with her contact lenses anymore. Adrien hadn't even flinched when he saw Alya and Lila at the food market. He had, in fact, pretended to be oblivious to their presence and had deliberately switched to Chinese when talking to Nettie just to add to the confusion even more. 

With a bit of eve's dropping, Nettie had found out that Lila had lied to the class and said that she knew the head designer of Píngguǒ huā Designs and that Lila had organised an exclusive tour of the studio as well as backstage passes to the show. Nettie decided she would send tickets for the show itself but not full access passes as Lila had promised. 

She then coordinated with Mr Agreste to pull in as many people as possible that Lila had lied about to be at the show and more importantly, the after-party. It turned out quite a few of them were people that were going to be there anyway as they had ordered outfits from her beforehand were eager to be there when she showed herself to the world for the first time until now they only knew of a masked face with what looked like short hair and a voice distorter. Those that had ordered from her prior to her opening her own company knew her but those who she only started working with after that only knew the image she let the world see. 

The night before the show, Nettie and her family found themselves in the lounge with their three guests watching a movie that had Nettie and her family in gales of laughter.  _ Crazy Rich Asians  _ was definitely something the whole family could relate to. Tom confided to Adrien that that's how he had felt when he had first met Sabine and that while the hazing he had gone through was nowhere near as bad as what the female protagonist had to deal with, it hadn't been easy. It had been a shock for Tom when he had found out that Sabine was part of a super-rich family, but they were a lot more relaxed than the families in the movie, except maybe the roommate's family!

The fashion show had gone off without a hitch, with all the models hitting their cues effortlessly. The crowd had been wowed by the daring music choices and the stunning outfits that had been on display. Adrien had let Nettie know where the class was sitting and that Alya had her phone out and recording, despite the 'No Filming unless you have signed Authorisation' signs in French, English and Chinese that had been posted at every entrance. Nettie had alerted security to what Alya was doing and they had dealt with it gleefully as the class hadn't made a good impression on them. The reveal of Nettie's identity would happen during the afterparty, so with this in mind, she had created two outfits for the night. The first that she would walk the runway in was gender-neutral while the outfit for the party was an eye-catching dress in her signature pink, with grey accents.

Nettie was calmly talking to some of her guests while Adrien rested his arm around her waist when her class arrived. She had to hide a smile when she heard Alya telling Lila not to worry about how close Adrien was standing to someone they didn't know, how it must be something Mr Agreste had organised. Nettie lost sight of the class as she moved around the room and then it was time. Jagged had pretty much demanded the honour of introducing her to the world so when she saw him standing on the stage, she took a deep breath.

“I know many of you have heard the rumours about a certain girl knowing many of us here tonight. In fact, the Ladyblog has documented her numerous interactions with each of us. From rescuing my cat to Clara supposedly stealing her dance moves. Tonight we decided to share the truth. Yes, we do know a teenage girl who is frankly Rock n Roll in every way. But her name is not Lila Rossi. Lila Rossi is a name we only know due to her lies that the Ladyblog has spread and I know many of us have lawsuits lined up for her. I know Clara is an exceptional dancer in her own right and doesn't need to steal someone else's moves. The only cat I've ever been around, other than Chat Noir, was my mother's seal-point Siamese KisiMi who unfortunately died 20 years ago. 

This little liar aside, there is a young lady here that we all know and love. She is talented, kind and brave. When she was told that she would never succeed she brushed off the criticism and stood tall building the company we see here tonight. She has worked with a number of us on numerous occasions and always makes sure that we look our Rock n Roll best for whatever the occasion. I first met her when she was 14 and was using a fake name. Tonight she is shedding that fake name and showing the world who she really is. Please help me welcome to the stage the lead designer for and owner of Píngguǒ huā Designs: Nettie Chang!”

“Thanks, Jagged,” Nettie started once she had walked onto the stage and accepted the hug he offered. “Some people here might know me as Marinette Dupain-Cheng. This is due to my mother wanting to raise me away from the public eye. Nothing travels faster than news on 'Radio 1- Aisa'” she had to pause here as there was too much laughter for her to talk over. “Anyway, I have always wanted to design and just never had enough time to do so, so when a liar joined my class and pushed me out to the point where I barely had any true friends I decided to start this company. I'm glad I did too. 

I have worked with so many fabulous people that we would be here all night but there are three people, outside of my family that deserve extra special thanks. The first is Jagged Stone, without whom I wouldn't have met most of you. He has come to be the fun uncle that you turn to when you want to break the rules. The second is Mr Agreste, who hosted a bowler hat competition and gave me the motivation to keep designing. The final thank you goes to my boyfriend Adrien, who supports me from the wings and occasionally gives me the shove I need to get things done.” 

Nettie gave a small curtsy to the crowd, without waiting for questions and slid herself back into Adrien's arms. She could see the shouting going on among her class but she didn't care anymore. She was free of the expectations that they had placed on her. Free from worrying about what they thought and free to live her life. That's all she had wanted when she left France two weeks ago. Now she just had to deal with her cousin's wedding. Wouldn't that be fun!


End file.
